Growing up, one of the first series I devoured were the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. Flipping to page 96 or 17 or 125 with bated breath to find out whether I conquered evil or (more often) fell into a pit full of dysentery. Having a choice made those books exciting and unpredictable.

That same love of narrative and unpredictability soon led to the adventure games of the ’90s. Monkey Island. Day of the Tentacle. Sam and Max Hit the Road. I felt like I was part of the story.

And so I am thrilled to announce that I have signed a contract to author a script for a video game – an interactive novel app, to be precise.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my work as a writer thus far – and to those who continue to await future books, which are moving ever closer to completion.

The good news is that, in the era of eBooks and low-cost graphic design, readers are less inclined to judge a book by its cover.

The bad news is that it’s never been easier to judge a book by its reviews. And well-contemplated reviews are increasingly rare.

NetGalley (www.netgalley.com) seeks to address this problem by facilitating online reviews for a wide range of authors, from indie first-timers to best-sellers. Pay their fee, upload a digital copy of your manuscript, and they will make a digital copy of your manuscript available to hundreds of thousands of ‘professional readers’ – bloggers, media, educators, librarians and booksellers.

Authors (or publishers) have the choice of restricting copies to only the readers they approve, decisions often based on the reader’s profile or past reviews. Or you can open the title up to all NetGalley members without vetting them individually – a greater risk, with a potentially greater reward. (There are no guarantees that reviews will be favourable, though readers mostly stick with their preferred genre and use a logical method for evaluating titles. Mostly.)

Authors can also choose a number of additional add-ons, from direct email campaigns to being part of monthly newsletter distributions. A typical NetGalley run lasts for six months and costs USD$450 (USD$699 if it includes a newsletter spot). Three-month listings can be purchased by members of the International Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for USD$199. Direct email campaigns can run into the thousands.
In terms of actual results, a regularly listed title might receive a few hundred ‘requests’, which may in turn generate perhaps twenty or thirty reviews along with some additional library sales, bookstore orders and blog posts. My debut novel Rum Luck was available for a six month period and promoted via a NetGalley newsletter – it was the subject of around a dozen blog posts and about 80 reviews total – 40 on Goodreads and around 35 on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca combined.

Even the least expensive NetGalley listing may exceed the budget of many crime writers. A no-cost alternative is to give away eBook ARCs via LibraryThing (www.librarything.com), which allows authors to distribute up to 100 eBook ARCs per giveaway. (Fair warning – I have not attempted this myself, and have heard from other authors that LibraryThing readers grade on a harder curve.)

Overall, I found my listing on NetGalley to be worthwhile – particularly for a debut novel. A six month run was probably more than I needed, as most requests were placed in the first few weeks. An IBPA listing should be sufficient for most. Next time, I would book as early as possible (six months or more) to get my choice of newsletter slots. I would also make my title available to all NetGalley members, rather than evaluating readers one at a time. And I would run a LibraryThing giveaway as well.

This post originally appeared in the Crime Writers of Canada publication Crime Beat in January 2018.

An Epic Drinking Song for Alisha, who is born and raised in Calgary (a rare breed apparently…). Her hobbies include travelling around the world, photography, and making handmade crafts (then selling them) – including wine charms.

Alisha was at the airport
Ready for her flight
She was travelling to Europe
The trip would take all night

I’m very much behind in posting links to blog posts and reviews regarding ‘Rum Luck’ – so, time to catch up. Here’s a five star review from Brad Horner.

“… It’s a good novel about pursuing your dreams. I think I’ll remember that bit long after the murder mystery fades, but don’t get me wrong, there was a good deal of fun with that, too. I didn’t even mind that all the characters kept having hidden depths of skills popping up out from nowhere to save the day. It made them interesting. Really interesting. 🙂 No problemo. 😉

So who do you want to be when you grow up? Hey! As long as you don’t say clown, you’re in business.

Recommendations while reading this novel: Rum.

If you really want, then get some good tequila, but I seriously recommend rum. It’s not just in the title. It’s in the spirit. You can’t read a mystery novel taking place in a bar without getting blasted, can you? Sure, it doesn’t hurt if you like rum, too, or perhaps a bit of good tequila, but just imagine how much fun you might have if you turned the reading of this into a drinking game! Screw movies. Books are the new bar-room entertainment. Don’t believe me? Read the book. I can guarantee a good time. 🙂

Thanks to the author for a copy of his book! I was skeptical at first, but it was a charm to fall into and really, really smooth. Thank you!”

Thank you for the five star review, Brad – and thanks also for coming up with the idea of a Rum Luck Drinking Game. That is absolutely going to be a thing.

To celebrate the launch of ‘Rum Luck’, I’ll be authoring Epic Drinking Songs for readers throughout the month of July. All you need to do is take a picture of your copy of ‘Rum Luck’ – eBook or physical – and either e-mail it to me at ryan.aldred@gmail.com or post it to social media with the tag #RumLuck. Please include the name of the Epic Drinker and a few facts about them. (Eg. Where they live, favourite drink, etc.)

‘Rum Luck’ is a humorous mystery in which Canadian tourist Ben Cooper wakes up in a Costa Rican prison cell to find he’s bought a bar on a beach and been arrested for murder – is now available for purchase in eBook and hardcover.

Here’s an example of an Epic Drinking Song:

From Kristin: I want the Ballad about me! haha! Born in Saskatchewan, Live at the beach (Regina Beach), I like Gin, I make pots… And the photo is my favorite corner on my deck, friday afternoon, comfy chair, gin and tonic…

And here is Kristin’s Song:

Oh, Kristin had a long week
In Saskatchewan
She said, “I think I need a gin.”
Wayne said, “I’ll get ya one.”

Regina Beach had been too cold
And the pot she’d made had broke
So she took a big ol’ swig
But began to cough and choke

She looked inside her mug and saw
Stones of different blues
She asked Wayne, “What gives here?
What are you trying to do?”

He said, “My dear you asked for gin.
This one’s on the rocks.
You drank it that way all last night.
That’s thinking outside the box.”

And then Kirstin rememberedShe’d loved that pot so muchSo when the darn thing broke apartHer poor heart had been crushed

She’d put the shards in the freezer
To keep her drink ice cold
So that’s the way she drinks her gin
(And carefully, so I’m told.)

Drinking Songs will be at least 8 lines long, but may be much longer if inspiration strikes. I’ll be posting them on my facebook page and on twitter throughout the month.